Baseball and softball organizations periodically publish and update equipment standards and/or requirements including performance limitations for ball bats. One recently issued standard is the Bat-Ball Coefficient of Restitution (“BBCOR”) Standard adopted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”) on May 21, 2009. The BBCOR Standard, which became effective on Jan. 1, 2011 for NCAA baseball, is a principal part of the NCAA's effort, using available scientific data, to maintain as nearly as possible wood-like baseball bat performance in non-wood baseball bats. Although wood ball bats provide many beneficial features, they are prone to failure, and because wooden ball bats are typically solid (not hollow), wooden bats can be too heavy for younger players even at reduced bat lengths. Wood ball bats also provide little or no flexibility in the design of the hitting or barrel region of the bat. Non-wood bats, such as bats formed of aluminum, other alloys, composite fiber materials, thermoplastic materials and combinations thereof, allow for performance of the bat to be more readily tuned or adjusted throughout or along the hitting or barrel portion. Such characteristics enable non-wood bats to provide more consistent performance, increased reliability and increased durability than wood bats.
Other organizations have also adopted the BBCOR Standard. For example, the National Federation of State High School Associations (NFHS) has set Jan. 1, 2012 as the effective date for implementation of the BBCOR Standard for high school play. The BBCOR Standard includes a 0.500 BBCOR bat performance limit, which specifies that no point on the barrel or hitting portion of a bat can exceed the 0.500 BBCOR bat performance limit.
Bat manufacturers, such as DeMarini, have responded by producing bats that are certified under the BBCOR Standard. These bats generally have a slightly higher moment of inertia and can have stiffer barrels or impact regions than non-BBCOR baseball bats. BBCOR certified ball bats are configured not to exceed the 0.500 BBCOR bat performance limit. Therefore, BBCOR certified bats do not provide the same rebound or trampoline effect off the barrel of the bat as non-BBCOR certified bats.
Existing baseballs typically include a rubber encased cork center surrounded by one or more layers of yarn. The yarn can be wool or other synthetic materials. One or more foundation cotton layers can be positioned over the one or more layers of yarn, and two leather or synthetic leather cover panels can be applied over the cotton and yarn layers and stitched together.
The impact duration between existing baseballs and existing non-BBCOR certified ball bats is approximately 1 millisecond. The impact duration between a baseball and a BBCOR certified bat can be reduced such that less energy from the impact is absorbed by the BBCOR certified bat and more impact energy is absorbed by the baseball itself. The increased energy absorbed by the baseball can increase the deformation of the baseball upon impact and degrade the structural integrity of the baseball, such that the performance of the baseball decreases overtime and with increased impacts with a BBCOR certified bat. Accordingly, the usable life of existing baseballs can be significantly reduced when used with BBCOR certified ball bats. The degradation in performance of the baseball is illustrated by a decreased coefficient of restitution (COR) overtime and a significant decrease in ball compression overtime. Both of these reduced performance characteristics render a baseball less desirable for play and essentially unplayable. A decreased usable life of a baseball has many undesirable effects. It can cause a player, a team, a league or an organization to replace baseballs more frequently during games and during practice. The reduced usable life results in higher costs, more waste and general inefficiency.
Accordingly, a need exists to develop an improved baseball that can provide consistent performance overtime, and not exhibit a decreased usable life, when used with BBCOR certified ball bats. It would be desirable to produce a baseball that retains the performance characteristics of existing baseballs but also allows for extended useful life of the baseball even when used with BBCOR certified ball bats. It would be advantageous to provide a baseball that doesn't exhibit a significant decrease in compression and COR overtime when used with a BBCOR certified ball bat, and maintains a feel that is consistent with existing baseballs.